CSN ends deal to buy assets, Spain

Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional SA (CSN) said Friday it cancelled a deal to acquire a Spanish cement producer and steel assets in Spain and Germany due to breach of contract.

CSN had disclosed on May 19 that it would buy cement producer Cementos Balboa SA and four long-steel producers in Spain and Germany from Spain’s Grupo Alfonso Gallardo SLU for EUR543m.

However, the deal has now been cancelled due to Gallardo Group’s failure to honour terms of the contract, CSN said in a statutory filing.

"CSN is taking measures to protect its rights," CSN said in the statement, without providing further details.

CSN and Alfonso Gallardo first disclosed they were in talks on the acquisition in December.

CSN had planned to take on debt worth about EUR403m as part of the transaction, CSN said at the time the deal was struck.

However, Grupo Alfonso Gallardo has denied on Friday breaching terms of that contract, Reuters reported.

Grupo Gallardo filed an arbitration suit on Aug. 17 to demand that the purchase be carried out, the company said in a statement sent by e-mail to Reuters. It declined to elaborate on the suit.
Published under Cement News